The Setup Phase of FENCE!

In the Setup Phase, we assemble the deck, build the map, and place the pawns.

Assemble the Deck

Select one red and one blue set of Ace through 6 for each player in the game. Match the color of the suit with the color of the back of the card (use only Spades and Clubs for blue-backed cards, and only Hearts and Diamonds for red-backed cards). So if you have 3 players, you'll want 3 red Aces with red backs, 3 black Aces with blue backs, 3 red twos with red backs, 3 black twos with blue backs, and so on up to 3 red sixes with red backs and 3 black sixes with blue backs.

If you'd rather not use playing cards, you can print and cut out the card sets included with the PDF.

Set the other cards aside; you won't use them in this game.

Shuffle the red-backed cards into one pile, and shuffle the blue-backed cards into a separate pile. Place the two piles face-down; this is the Stash.

Build the Map

The goal of this part is to create an interesting, functional, and well-connected map for the rest of the game.

Mix and distribute all the tiles as evenly as possible to all players, face down.

From The Stash, deal each player a red card and a blue card, face down. This will designate that player's starting tile. Players can look at their own starting location as soon as they are dealt.

Each player turns their tiles face up in front of them. The player with the tile labeled "Old Town" (⚀,⚂) places it in the center of the table, and places in front of themself.

Going clockwise around the table, each player places one of their own tiles onto the map. Tiles can be placed in any orientation, but edges and corners must match exactly with the tiles already placed, and you must be able to navigate from Old Town to some neighborhood on the newly placed tile by road and back (without violating One Way signs ).

When playing a tile which has more than one neighborhood on it, every neighborhood that is connected to another tile by road must be able reach Old Town and back (respecting One Way signs).

As an alternative to placing a tile, a player may choose to swap one of their tiles with an already-placed tile, assuming it fits.

When a player places a tile, they should clearly say the name of the neighborhood(s) on tile, and what neighborhood(s) they are adjacent to. For example, "Cabbagetown connects to to the Stïx and Parkview". If any player thinks a tile has been misplaced, they can say "it doesn't match" or "you can't get to that tile from Old Town", or "you can't get from Old Town to that tile", and the player who placed the tile must pick it up and put it back in front of them and try again.

Continue until everyone has placed all their tiles; if any tiles cannot be placed legitimately, discard them face-down.

Once the map is fully-built, note the neighborhoods which cannot be reached from Old Town (probably very few). These neighborhoods are off limits for the rest of the game; you can pretend that they are not on the map.

Agree on a region of the table (not in the map) to act as the Jail, where you will place pawns captured by the Cops.

Place the Pawns

Starting with the First Player, each player reveals their starting location, places the cards in the discard pile, and places their pawn on a neighborhood in the selected tile. If two players have chosen the same tile, and there is more than one neighborhood on the tile, the later player must place their pawn on an unoccupied neighborhood.

Once all players have placed their pawns, the First Player rolls the dice to indicate the starting location of the Cops . If there is more than one neighborhood on the tile, the First Player chooses which neighborhood the cops start in.

If the Cops land in a neighborhood occupied by a player, that player's pawn is removed from the map -- they'll start the Main Phase of the game in Jail.

Deal 2 red cards and 2 blue cards from The Stash to each player.

You're now ready to go on to the Main Phase.